Mafia II
Mafia II is a somewhat linear third-person shooter game, and is the sequel to Mafia: The City of Lost Heaven. The game is developed by 2K Czech, previously known as Illusion Softworks, and published by 2K Games. Development of Mafia II was announced on August 21, 2007 at the Leipzig Games Convention. The game is set in the 1940's and 1950's in Empire Bay, a fictional city that is based on New York City, Los Angeles, Chicago and San Francisco. The name is a reference to New York's state nickname "The Empire State". Mafia II is available for Playstation 3, Xbox 360 and Microsoft Windows. The game was released to North America on August 24, 2010, and to Europe on August 27, 2010. The Mac OS X version of Mafia II: Director's Cut was pulished by Feral Interactive and released on December 1, 2011."Mafia II: Director's Cut for Mac Released Today" News article on Feral Interactive.com The game experience of Mafia II involves realistic controls featuring a standard action and violent action button, as well as context sensitive situations. The game introduces a cover mechanic not seen in the game's predecessor which allows the player to hide behind objects while in a shootout. There are over 70 highly detailed vehicles - including sports cars, city buses, tractor trailers, station wagons, and more. The game also introduces new weapons, like the MG42, and includes a few from the original game, such as the Colt M1911A1 and the Thompson 1928. Empire Bay's radio stations complete the experience with a wide variety of popular music from the 1940s and 1950s. Synopsis The storyline for Mafia II is a gritty drama and chronicles the rise of Vito Scaletta, the son of Sicilian immigrants. As the game progresses, Vito joins the Falcone crime family and becomes "a made man" along with his best friend Joe Barbaro. The story begins with the player character Vito returning home from World War II. Vito had joined the U.S. military as a way of avoiding jail time for a botched robbery. Vito reunites with his old friend, Joe Barbaro, and the two quickly embark upon a life of crime. Their criminal ascension starts with Mike Bruski, a car mechanic who gets in a conflict with Joe. Mike also needs a certain type of car to chop for parts, and will pay $400 for one that the police are not tailing. Soon enough, Vito, Joe, and Henry Tomasino (already a made man) find themselves battling with, for, against, and around three crime factions: the Falcone, Vinci crime family and Clemente crime family families. The game contains around two hours of in-game cutscenes. The original game, Mafia: The City of Lost Heaven, had a screenplay of 400 pages, as opposed to the 700 pages of the sequel. Daniel Vávra, the writer and director of the original and the sequel, discussed the new angle of the game stating: "The old game was a tribute to gangster movies, a romantic vision. Mafia II is grittier, real, a darker world, and the effects are based in reality." The Official Playstation Magazine states: "A high body count is still promised in this tale set in a fictional city inspired by New York of the 1940s and '50s, but those casualties will come the hard way -- through small-scale operations rather than mass firefights." However, this is odd since most of the missions involve killing a very large number of enemies. Plot Vito Scaletta was born in Sicily in 1925 to a poor family. He was with his father, his mother and his older sister Francesca. His father decides that it is time to move away, and he arranges for his family to immigrate to the Empire Bay area in America, (specifically Little Italy), where they arrive in the early spring of 1931. As fate would have it, the family would end up even worse off in their new home than they had been in Sicily. His father gets a small-time job at the dockyards, eventually turning to alcohol as a release. As he gets older, Vito gets involved with a local criminal named Joe Barbaro, who has been his best friend from a young age. They form a partnership. In 1943, his father drowns on the dockyards during his shift, and left his family struggling for money. With no options left, Vito turns to crime along with Joe. After a failed robbery of a jewelry store, Vito is arrested and given the choice of joining the army or going to prison. Vito chose the army and he ends up in the 504th Parachute Infantry as a paratrooper. He is dispatched to Sicily on July 1943 in Operation Husky and helps liberate citizens in a small village rebelling against the fascists, but the rest of his squad is killed in the process. He defends the town square from several Italian soldiers with an MG-42 on the balcony, but a tank almost kills him. Just then, Don Calo, head of the Sicilian Mafia, arrives on the tank with the US Army, offering the rest of the Italian soldiers freedom if they surrender. After this, Vito is transported through the rest of Italy and arrives to Normandy, where he is shot in late August 1944. He spends the next few months in a hospital and gets a leave for two months to go back home. Vito returns to Empire Bay in February 1945, with Joe waiting for his arrival. The two talked to each other about the war and went for a drink at Freddy's Bar. Joe hears about Vito's situation, makes a call and tells him to stop by tomorrow. At home, Vito learns from Francesca about their father owing $2000 from a loan shark. He meets Joe, who took him to Giuseppe, a safe-cracker, and [[Mike Bruski, who owned a junkyard. Vito and Joe then made a series of small-time jobs, while his mother recommended him to work for Derek Pappalardo, a corrupt dock owner and copo for the Vinci family, along with his henchman Steve Coyne. Joe later introduces Vito to Henry Tomasino, a soldato for Don Alberto Clemente. Henry instructs Vito to steal ration stamps from the Office of Price Administration. The heist went as planned but the stamps are due to expire the next day and Vito was ordered to resell them to all gas stations. Vito and Joe also robbed a jewelry store, to which they encounter Brian O'Neill and his crew. The two managed to escape from the police while Brian and his gang were arrested and imprisoned. Under the orders of Luca Gurino, Clemente's capo, Vito, Joe, and Henry assassinate Sidney Pen, who started a distillery without giving Clemente his cut. Vito was instructed to order an MG42 machine gun to be used for the ambush. A firefight ensued, but Henry was shot by Penn in the leg, prompting Vito and Joe to take him to a local mob doctor. Henry gives Vito $2000 for the successful job, and he takes it to Francesca to repay his father's debt. Vito was later arrested for his involvement in the OPA heist. He was placed on trial, but was eventually sentenced to ten years imprisonment. While in prison, he finds O'Neill, who beats him up in revenge for being jailed. Vito meets Leo Galante, a consigliere for the Vinci family. Due to his good standing against O'Neill, he adopts Vito as part of his group in order to help out training his best fighter to a fight with O'Neill. In the meantime, Vito is designated to participate in a couple of fights with other inmates. Leo asks Vito to beat O'Neill as a revenge for having his best fighter ambushed and badly beaten before the great fight with O'Neill. Vito ends up killing O'Neill with his own knife during the fight. Vito encountered harsh conditions in prison, even going to solitary confinement twice, and came to the point of depression when he found out about his mother's death. Leo arranges to Vito stay in his comfortable cell during the rest of his time in prison. Vito eventually learns that Clemente tried to cheat on him and Joe requesting payment to get into his family and he also learns about the inner workings of the American Mafia. After Leo leaves the prison, he influenced the parole board to release Vito earlier than scheduled. With his sentence shortened, Vito was finally released from prison in 1951. Once out, Vito meets up with Joe, who now works for Eddie Scarpa, underboss for Don Carlo Falcone. Joe and Eddie then treated Vito to the local brothel. Scarpa later remembers that he needs to drop the body of Frankie Potts, an undercover agent who attempted to investigate on the Falcones. Eddie later ordered Vito and Joe to sell cigarettes. The stint was successful, only to have the merchandise burned by the a band of greasers. This angered Eddie, who ordered Vito and Joe to get him his money back, which they did by killing the greasers in their own hangout and selling the gang's hot rods to Derek. A month later, Vito was dispatched to investigate on the whereabouts of Falcone's accountant Harvey "Beans" Epstein and his two bodyguards, who were later found to be kidnapped by Luca and his men. Vito infiltrates the slaughterhouse, and fights his way after rescuing Epstein and his surviving bodyguard Antonio "Tony Balls" Balsamo. Vito and Tony later confronted Luca, who was tortured (and later killed) by Tony, as Vito leaves. Vito and Joe eventually become made and are brought into the Falcone family at the Maltese Falcon restaurant, in front of Carlo Falcone, Frank Vinci and a few other key Mafia figures. Now a mobster, Vito and Joe enjoyed a life of luxury. Vito also managed to get his own house in an upscale suburban neighbourhood, happy with his newfound wealth. Two weeks later, Carlo and Eddie ordered Vito and Joe to assassinate Clemente. Joe plotted to use a bomb on the Empire Arms Hotel where Clemente is holding a family meeting, along with the help of young Marty as the getaway driver. The plan backfires, with Clemente surviving the explosion. Vito and Joe shoot their way through the hotel until after a lengthy chase, Joe empties his Thompson 1928 into Clemente in revenge for killing Marty at the hotel parking lot. Soon after, Vito is approached by Henry, who wished to join the Falcone family due to the demise of Clemente. Vito recommends Henry to Eddie, who told that Vinci was planning to make a move on them. Eddie orders Henry to kill Leo, much to Vito's despair. The latter then raced to Leo's mansion - depending on the player's actions, Leo can either escape with Vito, or be found by Henry, only to be spared in exchange for Leo disappearing from Empire Bay. Vito arrives to his home to see Francesca crying about her experience with Eric, her abusive husband. Vito then confronted Eric in his friend's apartment, and forces him to be good to his wife, or face death. Francesca was horrified upon learning about the brawl and disowned his brother, severing all ties to him. Vito later woke up to find out that his house was being torched by Mickey Desmond, O'Neill's cousin. Vito then turns to Joe, who helps him retaliate against Desmond's gang. They later settled on having Vito stay at Marty's apartment for the time being. Henry hears about Vito's situation, and the trio meet at Lincoln Park, planning on a potential heroin-trafficking business. At first Vito was hesitant, but he agrees to it. Using money borrowed from a loan shark named Bruno, they bought their merchandise from the Triads, later to be ambushed by gangsters disguised as police officers. They made over a hundred thousand dollars from their drug deal, but Falcone found about the deal and asked for his share of the profits. Henry asks Vito to further talk about this at Lincoln Park but upon Vito and Joe's arrival, the two find Henry butchered alive by Triad members. The two then stormed a Chinese restaurant, which was used as a front for their illicit businesses, killing the one who sold them the heroin in the process. The duo realized that they caused a conflict between the Triads and the Mafia families, with both sides accusing each other, and about the possibility that Henry was working with the federal goverment. They later took various jobs, one of which was killing Thomas Angelo, who turned pentito against the Salieri family in the first game. Vito also finds out about the truth behind the death of his father, killing Derek and Steve for doing so and taking Derek's money with him. He later finds out that Joe was taken by Vinci's men, and ended up at the construction site along with him, badly beaten. The two managed to escape from the building, and with Vito taking Joe to El Greco along with half of the money earned, to be paid to Bruno. It is then revealed that it was Bruno who lent the money to Vito's father, much to his anger. Eddie calls Vito the next day, telling him to meet up with Falcone at the observatory. Vito leaves, but was interrupted by Leo in his limousine, who rudely ordered him to get in. Leo then angrily berated Vito for all the trouble he caused, and, with Mr. Chu, the Triad boss, told Vito that everyone wanted him dead. Leo gives Vito a chance for redemption by killing Falcone. Vito then went to the observatory as planned, and ended up in a gunfight throughout the building before he reaches Falcone, who taunts him for his actions, and Joe pointing a gun at Vito. Carlo orders Joe to shoot, but Joe hesitates, citing his friendship with his childhood friend, joining Vito as they battle the remaining thugs until they gun down Carlo. A mortally wounded Carlo crawls down the floor as Vito guns him down three more times, lamenting about what he did over the years. Vito and Joe emerged from the observatory, with Leo awaiting their arrival. Vito boarded Leo's limo, as the latter wanted to have a talk with him. Joe rides with two of Leo's bodyguards in another car which suddenly turned away at an intersection and Leo softly tells Vito that Joe wasn't a part of the offer. Vito looks at himself in sorrow, realizing that Joe was the biggest price he paid for his path: the Mafia. The final shot of the game is a view of the city Empire Bay and the somber rainy weather before the credits roll. Trailers A promotional trailer was released for the game in August 2007. The first scene occurs in a low-key restaurant where Clemente Caporegime Luca, is having dinner with Henry, Joe and Vito. After some small talk, Luca asks Vito if he is against killing animals, specifically "human animals." Then follows a montage of clips from the game's cutscenes and gameplay. The next scene takes place in a warehouse. Sidney Pen aka The Fat Man is crawling on the floor, begging for his life. Henry fires his gun at the Fat Man and the scene ends. The last scene is an obvious reference to the film Goodfellas; the three gangsters (Joe, Vito and Eddie) are in a car, driving to a suitable place to dispose of a body. The song "Oh Marie" by Louis Prima is featured in the trailer. A second trailer was released on the Spike VGA show on December 14, 2008. The first part of the trailer occurs in one of Empire city's churches and features Vito with his mother. It is followed by a montage of gameplay and cutscenes that feature scenes of Vito being welcomed by Joe and parts of several shoot-outs and pursuits. The song "Long Tall Sally" by Little Richard is featured in the trailer. An extended, high definition version of the trailer was released on January 15, 2009 with an extra 30 seconds of cutscene footage. In this new footage, Vito is shown leaving the church alongside his mother; who he drops off in a taxi. Then, a car carrying Henry, Joe, and Eddie pick up Vito and they drive off, laughing. The game was released on August 24th, 2010 in North America. On March 27, 2010, a new trailer was released showcasing the PhysX-based cloth and physics system used in the game. Downloadable content On May 26, 2010, four downloadable packs were originally offered as pre-order bonus, each one available with two exclusive outfits and vehicles, but are now available for purchase in the PSN Store and Xbox Live Market for $2.99 or 240 Microsoft points each. * Vegas Pack: Offers two additional cars and two suits for Vito * War Hero Pack: Two military style vehicles plus two new military inspired suits, including a full uniform and fatigues. * Renegade Pack: Two new cars; a small sports coupe and a 50s hot rod. Leather and lettermen’s jackets for Vito. * Greaser Pack: Two hot-rod speedsters and two new suits for Vito, one with a leather jacket and heavy boots, the other a leather racing suit. * The Betrayal of Jimmy: PS3 exclusive DLC. Also available on PC with "Mafia 2: Extended Edition" for Russian market. *Jimmy's Vendetta * Joe's Adventures was announced on the offical web-site and was released on November 23, 2010. Collectors edition On May 26, 2010 a collector's edtion was announced for Mafia II. The collector's edition includes the following items: * Collectible SteelBookTM Casing: Brushed metallic SteelBook hard case with debossed logo containing two pieces of art featuring Vito and Joe, the stars of Mafia II. * Made Man Pack: Free access to in-game downloadable pack that lets players get behind the wheel of two different luxury automobiles modeled after cars from the period. In addition, Vito gets two new “made man” suits, including a vintage tux. * Hardcover Art Book: A 100-page photo album-style art book that explains the artistic design process of the game. * Mafia II Orchestral Score: Mafia II score recorded by the Prague FILMHarmonic Orchestra. * Map of Empire Bay PlayStation 3 version On June 15, 2010 Sony announced at Electronic Entertainment Expo 2010 that owners of the PlayStation 3 version of the game will be able to download the free DLC upon release, named The Betrayal of Jimmy. The second DLC, Jimmy's Vendetta, will be available for the PC, Xbox 360, and PlayStation 3 shortly after release. Multiplayer There was going to be a Multiplayer component for the game, however it was scrapped. Demo Main article: Mafia II Demo A timed demo for the game was released on August 10, 2010. The official description for the demo is as follows: Vito has started to make a name for himself on the streets of Empire Bay, someone who can be trusted to get a job done. In this hot leaded playable demo, you and Joe get one of your first serious assignments, to deal with a chump that isn't playing ball the way the Mob likes it. Make a Man of yourself in Mafia II. Director's Cut Mafia II: The Director's Cut is a premium edition of the standard Mafia II which includes the game, The Betrayal of Jimmy, Jimmy's Vendetta, Joe's Adventures and four style packs. System requirements Minimum system requirements *'Operating System:' Microsoft Windows XP (SP2 or later) / Windows Vista / Windows 7 *'Processor:' Pentium D 3Ghz or AMD Athlon 64 X2 3600+ (Dual core) or higher *'RAM:' 1.5 GB *'Video Card:' nVidia GeForce 8600 / ATI HD2600 Pro or better *'Hard Disk Space:' 8 GB *'Sound Card:' 100% DirectX 9.0c compatible sound card *'Peripherals:' Keyboard and mouse or Windows compatible gamepad Recommended system requirements *'Operating System:' Microsoft Windows XP (SP2 or later) / Windows Vista / Windows 7 *'Processor:' 2.4 GHz Quad Core processor *'RAM:' 2 GB *'Video Card:' nVidia GeForce 9800 GTX / ATI Radeon HD 3870 or better *'Hard Disk:' 10 GB *'Sound Card:' 100% DirectX 9.0c compliant card *'Peripherals:' Keyboard and mouse or Windows compatible gamepad PhysX & Apex enhancement system requirements *'Operating System:' Microsoft Windows XP (SP2 or later) / Windows Vista / Windows 7 *'Minimum Processor:' 2.4 GHz Quad Core processor *'Recommended Processor:' 2.66 GHz Core i7-920 RAM: 2 GB Video Cards and resolution: APEX medium settings *'Minimum:' NVIDIA GeForce GTX 260 (or better) for Graphics and a dedicated NVIDIA 9800GTX (or better) for PhysX *'Recommended:' NVIDIA GeForce GTX 470 (or better) Video Cards and resolution: APEX High settings *'Minimum:' NVIDIA GeForce GTX 470 (or better) and a dedicated NVIDIA 9800GTX (or better) for PhysX *'Recommended:' NVIDIA GeForce GTX 480 for Graphics and a dedicated NVIDIA GTX 285 (or better) for PhysX NVIDIA GPU driver: 197.13 or later. *'NVIDIA PhysX driver:' 10.04.02_9.10.0522. Included and automatically installed with the game. Here is a comprehensive list of benchmark tests with and without the use of PhysX. Mafia 2 26m.jpg|From jmababa.webs.com|link=http://jmababa.webs.com/apps/photos/album?albumid=10237967 Mafia 2 2m.jpg|From jmababa.webs.com|link=http://jmababa.webs.com/apps/photos/album?albumid=10237967 Mafia-2-game-1600-1200-1408.jpg|From jmababa.webs.com|link=http://jmababa.webs.com/apps/photos/album?albumid=10237967 Mafia 2 3m.jpg|From jmababa.webs.com|link=http://jmababa.webs.com/apps/photos/album?albumid=10237967 28981.jpg|Mafia II Wallpaper mafia2-wall-1280x960.jpg|Mafia II Wallpaper wall_04_1280x960.jpg|Mafia II Wallpaper phpThumb.php (800 x 600).jpg|Picture of a Cut Out Chapter mafia2_wallpaper.jpg|Molotov Cocktail Notes *The game currently holds the record for most usage of the word "fuck" in a video game at 200 instances of the word. The game that held the record before hand was House of the Dead: Overkill, at 189. http://kotaku.com/5640174/guinness-gives-mafia-ii-the-f+bomb-record *Originally the game was to include four alternative endings, although only one was kept and the other three were scrapped as the makers of the game preferred that ending. In the soundtrack, music named "Alternative Ending" is included. It's unknown what was to occur in that ending the music was meant to go with. *The game was originally meant to have 22 chapters and take place from 1946 to 1957, almost ten years of Vito's life. This was stated in a demo released in 2009. The final released version of the game has 15 chapters and takes place from 1943 to 1951, 8 years of Vito's life. External links * Mafia II official website * Mafia II official forum * Main Theme * Mafia II Director's Cut for Mac official site. References Gameplay See: Gameplay Mechanics. Stealth.png Distfire.png 9f5de9db0ee05ec5fc424d0948b2daf03e206d71 large.jpg Mafiaii 062.jpg Mafiaii 107.jpg Villa2.png Boat.jpg Chapter1MG.jpg Chapter1Start.jpg Mafiaii 011.jpg Chapter2Over.jpg HandToHandCombat.jpg Stealing1942Jefferson.jpg Mafiaii 139.jpg Triads Prison.png Bandaleo.png Leos gang.png Arrested.jpg Edificiovinci2.png Edificiovinci6.png Empire1.png Mafia2 2010-11-26 20-38-00-95.png Mafia2 2010-12-02 22-41-30-53.jpg 4422168266 79c3b76e58.jpg Greaserman.png Bolidofurgoneta.jpg Bolidosmith34.jpg Greaserpack1.jpg Greaserpack2.jpg Joearmado.png First-Look-Mafia-II----The-Sleeper-Hit-Of-2009.jpg Mafiaii 479.jpg RRDragon1.png RRDragon2.png RRDragon3.png RRDragon4.png RRDragon5.png RRDragon6.png RRDragon7.png RRDragon8.png RRDragon9.png Reddragon.png Cast *Rick Pasqualone as Vito Scaletta, Giuseppe *Bobby Costanzo as Joe Barbaro, Federico Pappalardo *Sonny Marinelli as Henry Tomasino *Joe Hanna as Eddie Scarpa *Frank Ashmore as Leone Galante *John Mariano as Mike Bruski, El Greco *Andre Sogliuzzo as Luca Gurino, Carlo Falcone *Jeannie Elias as Francesca Scaletta *Joan Copeland as Maria Scaletta *Larry Kenney as Franco Vinci *Nolan North as Alberto Clemente *Jason Spisak as Marty *Joe Sabatino as Harry *Liam O'Brien as Brian O'Neill *Mark Mintz as Stephen Coyne *John Capodice as Sidney Pen *Brian Bloom as Eric Reilly *James Sie as Zhe Yun Wong *John Cygan as Pepe Costa Category:Games Category:Mafia II Category:Gameplay